NPR One for iOS makes radio personal

Think of it sort of like Pandora for news. The free NPR One app streams news stories that should be of interest to you, using your local NPR station and any other that generates news you are likely to connect with.

You sign up using your NPR ID (if you have one), or you can use a Google+ login or Facebook.

Getting started is simple: press the play button. The app starts with the latest local newscast from your closest NPR station, then individual stories stream without user intervention. If you like a particular story or topic you can let the app know, or you can search for topics of interest. After a while, the app presents a unique newscast tailored just for you. The app is not meant to replace the NPR News app, which provides live streams and archived programming. NPR One is more personal. You can rewind stories 15 seconds at a time if you missed something, and drag the time bar forward or back. Stories can be shared with friends via email or iMessage.If you pause a story, you can resume it at any later time.

A couple of small complaints: while you can give a story a "thumbs up", there's no way to give one a "thumbs down". I'd like to be able to tell the app "no more of this topic." I'd also like to see a playlist of what is coming up, so I can edit it -- that's something the NPR News app provides.

NPR One is a useful app.I've had it on in the car, and it's a nice companion when I'm on the road. The app is not universal, and it requires iOS 7 or later. It is optimized for the iPhone 5.